66 replies to this topic

[Byte Knight]

RevEng, jrok, Tjoppen, Pac-Man-Red, and I are excited to announce a new Christmas compilation cartridge titled "The Byte Before Christmas." The cartridge is ready to go and will be featured in the AtariAge store once the label art is finished. You can submit your artwork to this thread, and the deadline for the submissions will be December 12th. The winner will get a free copy of the game autographed by all four programmers!



The Byte Before Christmas consists of the following games:

Naughty List by RevEng



• After centuries of watching the Naughty List grow, jolly old Saint Nick has finally cracked and decided to level the playfield... very literally. In Naughty List you play as Santa, dropping packages to destroy ugly buildings and make way for lovely Christmas trees.

Bell Hopper by Tjoppen



• The game is a demake/port of the flash game Winterbells. Hop from bell to bell to wake humanity and save Christmas.

Santa's Scabs by jrok



• You are an unemployed worker caught in the grip of a worldwide global economic recession. While watching the news, wondering if you'll ever find work again, an interesting story catches your eye: Santa's elves have gone on strike! Summoning your entrepreneurial spirit, you decide to hitch a ride to the North Pole and brave the elven picket lines. Can you reach the workshop, make the toys, collect your paycheck and save Christmas... including your own Christmas?

Christmas Adventure by Byte Knight, RevEng, and Pac-Man-Red



• The Grinch has once again ruined Christmas by stealing all of Whoville's presents and scaring off the residents with his evil toys. Your task is to return the sack of presents back to your home. This is no easy task, since you must fend off three evil toys - the Nutcracker, a toy Robot, and a not-so-cuddly Teddy Bear. If you can get past these "toys gone wild", you'll have to deal with the Grinch himself. The Grinch's dog Max is also on the loose, swiping items from you at the most inopportune times...

Good luck and remember to get your artwork in by December 12th!

Edited by Byte Knight, Sat Dec 3, 2011 12:26 PM.

[bomberpunk]

nice!

so does Naughty List play like the iPhone game Jungle Crash? does Santa's sleigh drop lower and lower each pass and you have a limited number of presents to drop?

if numbered, i'll take #1

[RevEng]

I haven't played Jungle Crash, but it sounds like its based on the classic game Blitz, just like Naughty List is.

Santa's sleigh does indeed drop lower and lower, risking collision with the higher buildings. The packages are unlimited. (but only 1 in play at a time) There are original non-Blitz elements too - pedestrians you need to avoid killing, and a construction vehicle that fixes the buildings up as you race to bring them down.

[bomberpunk]

that sounds awesome. i'll have to look into Blitz.

[TrekMD]

This is very nice! Looking forward to it!

[bomberpunk]

i can't find anything on Blitz cause searches are littered with NFL and Bejeweled crap. link me!

[CPUWIZ]

bomberpunk, on Sat Dec 3, 2011 3:40 PM, said:

i can't find anything on Blitz cause searches are littered with NFL and Bejeweled crap. link me!

Your google-fu is not strong.

[RevEng]

Here's the wikipedia entry. Naughty List plays like more modern variants, such as Blitz World Tour, in that the packages have forward momentum.

The additional elements change the character of the game a bit too - it's sometimes to your advantage to take out lower buildings so the construction vehicle can't build them up.

[ls650]

Love that backstory on "Santa's Scab"! LOL...

[bomberpunk]

yep, Jungle Crash is the same thing except instead of buildings you're bombing mountains and trees. and there are powerups that propel you up one level or give you stronger bombs. look it up if you have an iPhone. it's from Donut Games (they have a few great titles) i think it's only a buck

so yeah, i'm REALLY looking forward to this VCS interpretation as well as Bell Hopper!!

[RevEng]

bomberpunk, on Sat Dec 3, 2011 5:05 PM, said:

so yeah, i'm REALLY looking forward to this VCS interpretation as well as Bell Hopper!!

I think there's a lot of value in the whole bunch... I was really impressed with the games that the other guys produced!

ls650, on Sat Dec 3, 2011 4:45 PM, said:

Love that backstory on "Santa's Scab"! LOL...

Jrok has a fantastic, twisted sense of humor. A key part of the game is kicking the striking elves!

[frankodragon]

Does the artwork need to have the titles/logos etc?

[RevEng]

frankodragon, on Sat Dec 3, 2011 8:17 PM, said:

Does the artwork need to have the titles/logos etc?

It's not necessary, but its a good idea... if an entry is fantastic but doesn't work with a title/logo then we won't be able to use it.

I've attached sample logos, the atariage logo, and the blank cart templates. Hopefully Byte Knight can move these up to the first post in a bit.

Attached Files

•  AtariAgeLogos.zip   413.73K   28 downloads
•  AtariCartridgeTemplate.zip   871.94K   20 downloads
•  TheByteBeforeChristmasLogo.zip   485.12K   26 downloads

[Byte Knight]

RevEng, on Sat Dec 3, 2011 9:49 PM, said:

I've attached sample logos, the atariage logo, and the blank cart templates. Hopefully Byte Knight can move these up to the first post in a bit.

I would, but I seem to have lost that damn "Edit" button...

[Byte Knight]

For those interested, here are the official contest rules:

Spoiler

How to Enter

Both a main label and an end label must be included with your submission. For your label to be considered, please understand these guidelines and conditions:

Main Label Requirements - The main label should be the focus of your design efforts. Artwork for the main label will also appear on the manual. Therefore, you should create the artwork at sufficiently high enough resolution to be suitable for these larger applications (600dpi raster art or vector artwork). The title of the game, The Byte Before Christmas, should appear prominently on the label.

End Label Text - The end label must contain the game's title, The Byte Before Christmas.

Clearly Legible Text - All text on the label must be clearly legible at the size the label will be printed. Please keep this important consideration in mind while you are designing your label.

Multiple Submissions - While we will gladly accept multiple submissions, we ask that each label be unique from your any previous submissions in some significant fashion. We reserve the right to reject labels that differ only in color or some other minor attribute from previous entries. We will gladly replace previous submissions with new entries if you so request.

Use of Copyrighted Images - If you use any copyrighted images, you must seek permission from the copyright holder before using that image as part of your label. Likewise, any labels that use artwork from a previously submitted label will be rejected. If we determine you have used copyrighted images on your label (or labels) and you have not obtained the rights to use those images, your entries will be rejected.

Grant of Rights/Warranty/Indemnification - By submitting an entry (or entries) to this contest, you: (i) grant to AtariAge the full right and license to use and reproduce your submission(s) for all purposes, including without limitation for use as the cartridge label for The Byte Before Christmas on the Atari 2600; (ii) warrant and represent to AtariAge and that all materials you submit are original to you and that they do not infringe upon any rights of any third parties; (iii) shall indemnify AtariAge from any and all claims which might be brought against them pertaining to your warranty above; and, (iv)acknowledge that the above stated grant of rights is made freely without the expectation of any compensation whatsoever, except in the event you are selected as the contest winner you will be given the signed cartridge stated elsewhere in these contest terms and conditions.

Labels should be saved in a non-lossy image format such as PNG, TIFF, PCX, or BMP. If you need to save your image using JPEG for some reason, please use a minimal amount of compression. In order for the label to look good when printed, it should be saved at 300dpi or better. Generally anything under 10MB will not be a problem.

[Legend]

Quote

Use of Copyrighted Images - If you use any copyrighted images, you must seek permission from the copyright holder before using that image as part of your label. Likewise, any labels that use artwork from a previously submitted label will be rejected. If we determine you have used copyrighted images on your label (or labels) and you have not obtained the rights to use those images, your entries will be rejected.

Isn't "Whoville, the Grinch, and his dog Max" technically copyrighted material?

[RevEng]

Must have been a typo. That should have been "Crinch, Mac, and Whotown."

[Gateway]

This looks awesome! Good work, guys!

I am interested in buying one of these carts when the time comes.

[Byte Knight]

Legend, on Mon Dec 5, 2011 12:01 AM, said:

Isn't "Whoville, the Grinch, and his dog Max" technically copyrighted material?

Technically yes, so people shouldn't put exact likenesses of those characters on the label... Christmas Adventure's "band of evil toys" is fair game however.

[RevEng]

I put together a short video of gameplay footage. Enjoy!

[frankodragon]

Here's my entry for the label contest:

[Byte Knight]

frankodragon, on Mon Dec 5, 2011 2:16 PM, said:

Here's my entry for the label contest:

Looks great! I like how you incorporated every game into the label.

[frankodragon]

Byte Knight, on Mon Dec 5, 2011 8:19 PM, said:

frankodragon, on Mon Dec 5, 2011 2:16 PM, said:

Here's my entry for the label contest:

Looks great! I like how you incorporated every game into the label.

Thanks!

[TrekMD]

That looks nice!

[Zach]

Nice animated title screen. Of course the games look good too.